That brings me to the second group of people to whom I owe thanks. I have yet to recognize their critical role in my reelection, and I really should express my gratitude publicly for what they did. Those people are the evil Republican and conservative governors who, despite my best efforts to stop them, worked so diligently during my first term, especially the past two years, to turn around or further improve their own states’ economies.

First and foremost, there’s Rick Perry in Texas. Did you realize that employment in his state was 440,000 higher in October 2012 than it was just 22 months earlier? Despite having my Environmental Protection Agencywage regulatory war on the Lone Star State, Texas, which has 8.3 percent of the nation’s population, accounted for 12.5 percent of its job growth and had an October unemployment rate of only 6.6%. Don’t rest on your laurels, Rick. Now that I don’t have to face reelection again (unless I can do something about that pesky 22nd Amendment), you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

Three other smaller states had job-growth records either better than or close to that seen in Texas: North Dakota, Utah, and Oklahoma, which added a combined 150,000 jobs during the same period. Collectively (I really love that word), those four states grew their combined workforces by 4.4 percent. Meanwhile, the other 46 states plus D.C. only managed to grow their employment by less than 2.1 percent. ”